


to the ends of the earth, would you follow me

by come_soft_rains



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M, More tags later, Pining, Probably Sex in the later chapters, Slow Build, pre-STID, spirk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 05:01:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2680103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/come_soft_rains/pseuds/come_soft_rains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The air between them compressed like a coil as Kirk closed into his space. Despite what the elder Vulcan had said, nothing would ever be like what it was in his reality. This professional relationship would never soften into the friendship that Spock Prime had held so dear. It just wasn’t possible. However, Jim continued to try..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I’ve been meaning to publish this for quite a while but couldn’t find the time until now. Just a warning, you all are in for a very slow and painful ride. Comments appreciated!

The stars passed by idly as the enterprise cruised through the Laurentian system. 15 months ago Vulcan vanished into a black hole, thousands of minds silenced as the planet crumbled and disappeared. The ship bustled with activity what with two ambassadors aboard. Kirk slouched in his seat as the crew typed and monitored and watched their screens; his gaze occasionally flitted around to Sulu and to Chekov with his untamed curls and to the various yeomen and his first officer. He always lingered, wondering what kind of product he used to keep his hair all matted and combed and unmoving. Then, as the Vulcan felt his eyes on him and whipped around, Kirk would turn away just in time. Today though, he kept his contact until Spock swiveled around and met his eyes. The young captain stood and headed over to Spock, clasping his hands behind and putting on a serious expression.

The air between them compressed like a coil as Kirk closed into his space. Despite what the elder Vulcan had said, nothing would ever be like what it was in his reality. This professional relationship would never soften into the friendship that Spock Prime had held so dear. It just wasn’t possible. However, Jim continued to try, albeit with less enthusiasm nowadays. He tried again for small talk today, try and maybe loosen the coil.

“Anything to report?”

“I would have notified you.” Spock sat taut like a pulled string in his seat, lights oscillating across the control board behind him.

Kirk nodded and clicked his tongue, “Right, right…” he paused and tried to think of a valid question but only reiterated, “So...no reports?”

Spock’s eyebrow quirked, “Is there something you need Captain?”

“Yeah, no, I’ll see you next shift. Spock you have the con.” Kirk turned without response and headed to the lift, cursing himself for sucking so much at small talk. _It’s like talking to a rock._ The doors opened with a chirp.

“Good night keptin!”

Kirk turned and winked at his helmsman, “Don’t fall asleep, we don’t want a repeat of last month.”

Chekov’s face fell and he retorted, “You said you weren’t going to bring that up again!”

Kirk shrugged and smiled, a devilish glint in his eye. As the doors slid shut he saw Sulu punch Chekov’s arm, “Yeah Pavel, you do that again and we will have to give you to the Klingons as a peace offering.”

Chekov’s eyes widened, “You wouldn’t—!”

At the last second he saw Spock easing into the captain’s chair, that sleek black hair shining under the impossibly bright lights of the bridge.

Faint beeps and familiar clatter passed by in the seconds he flew down to his deck. The computer announced ‘deck 5’ and the doors opened to a quiet hall. His door was on the right at the end of the hall but he decided to check on the ambassadors further down the corridor.

The two Andorian ambassadors were headed back from a conference they had on Earth involving the education of their offspring with disabilities. Kirk didn’t know whether they had gotten all they wanted but he knew that it was a messy meeting. A lot of shouting.

They didn’t share many words, just ‘how are you’s’ and ‘I’m sorry that the food isn’t to your liking’ and ‘no I’m not sure if we can make it any cooler—are you seriously hot?’ Kirk had to bite his tongue on the last one. He could feel the chill coming from their quarters as they stood in front of the door. The simulator in there was set at probably absolute zero and yet, it wasn’t cold enough. He could feel the stack of filed complaints now. Kirk bid them goodnight and then wandered back to his room. The hum of the ship spluttered every once in a while when they traveled through turbulence, and it always sounded oddly like a hiccup.

Kirk ran through his nightly ritual, the one where he readies himself for bed: brush teeth, floss, comb hair, scrub face, drink a glass of water, flip on sound simulator—steady rain. Then, the wait. Kirk could get some medicine for his insomnia, but he was too stubborn to go to McCoy about it because he would just tell him it’s the crap he eats for dinner, or completely overreact and make him do an entire medical eval. And Kirk loathed medical evals. Especially the blood samples, they always made him dizzy. He doesn’t have a problem seeing other people bleed, but when it’s his blood coming out of his body… Jim shook the thought away, he was getting queasy just imagining it. Seconds turned into minutes turned into hours until by some act of god he managed to fall asleep. It wasn’t long before Bones came in to wake him up.

Rough hands throttled him—to his credit, he tried to be gentle for the first 3 seconds, but McCoy is impatient.

“—wake the fuck up!” McCoy rolled Jim all the way off his mattress and Jim fell down to the floor with a quick thud.

Kirk broke the landing with his face and immediately yelled out, cradling his possibly broken nose and sitting up. He breathed quickly and shrieked, “What the hell Bones?!”

“Look, could you just get your clothes on, you’re late to lunch with—“ but Bones didn’t have to finish.

“The ambassadors! Oh—“ Kirk continued to use a slew of inappropriate words and phrases, some not even in standard. How did his alarm not wake him up? He quickly buttoned his pants and clasped the buttons on his ceremonial garments. He messied his hair and then tossed it to one side. “How long have they been in there? Who is in there with them right now?!”

McCoy handed him his communicator and a breath mint, “Right now it’s Spock and Uhura entertaining them.”

_Oh thank God. If it were just Spock we’d be screwed._

As they made their way out of the room, McCoy ran him over with a scanner. The buzzing tickled Jim’s ear and he swatted at the doctor, “Get that thing out of my face. I’m fine.”

 “You haven’t slept over an important deadline like this since Vulcan got swallowed up. What’s going on, Jim?” McCoy shoved the scanner into his pant pocket and followed closely. They boarded the lift and quickly zoomed up to the boardroom.

“I’m fine, really Bones. The only thing I’m worried about right now is that a certain Vulcan is being a horrible host. Andorians and Vulcans do not like each other.” The Captain wiggled in place as the elevator slowed to the floor they wanted. He brushed his pants and torso and exploded out of the elevator and down the hall, rolling his eyes as McCoy called, “I want to see you in sickbay afterwards!”

…

Uhura is a gift to humanity that Kirk forgets about every day when he wakes up but is quickly reminded of when she completely saves his ass. Consistently. Kirk sometimes wonders how he managed before he had the Lieutenant. She did most of the talking even though she wasn’t completely knowledgeable on their culture. Spock of course knew every facet of Andorian society but remained silent.

She spoke with ease, dominating and leading the conversation and easily avoiding harsh subjects and at the same time, entertaining the ambassadors. Kirk sat at the head of the table, his first officer to his right and the female ambassador, Talea to his left. The Andorian’s white hair fell to her shoulders in smooth curls, narrow antennae curling into the air. A gentle smile stayed on Talea’s face as she listened to his communications officer speak about odd Terran holidays.

“…so on April Fool’s, I decided to mix in a ton of wasabi.” Uhura lifted a glass to her lips, sipped, then continued, “Wasabi is incredibly hot, you know spicy, and the next day my brother tried the guacamole…” Kirk fell in and out of focus, his eyes constantly drifting over to the Andorian ambassador. Sometimes Kirk regretted becoming captain. It’s a tough job and there isn’t a lot of chance for romance when you’re going a million miles an hour past burning spheres of gas. There’s a lot of paperwork and he’s only twenty-six and it’s just a lot of stress and not enough booty. But underneath it all Kirk needed this sort of conflictual lifestyle. Usually these regretful feelings were only fleeting and tended to only happen around beautiful women.

The Andorians erupted with laughter as Uhura wrapped up her story. Kirk broke his stare and grinned, looking around the table and locked gazes with his first officer. Spock looked sick. Not sick as in cool. Sick as in physically sick. The vulcan turned away quickly, setting his napkin on the table and then stood quite abruptly.

“I am required back on the bridge now so I must relieve myself. Ambassadors,” he nodded and made his way toward the door as the Andorians stood.

“Actually, we have to go back to our quarters for an impending conference call now.” Said Sharak.

They made their way into the hall, Uhura hurrying down the corridor to Spock as Kirk spoke with the Andorians, Talea in particular.

“So, Captain Kirk, we’ve heard a lot of rumors about you,” Talea chirped, placing her hands on her hips.

“Haha, none bad I hope. Is there…anything I can get you—you two—before you go back to your room?” Of course there wasn’t anything Kirk could think of that they would possibly need but…Talea was pretty and she was here.

Sharak was already heading toward the elevator when Talea responded, “Not right now. But do check in later.” The Andorian winked and smiled, but her smile was broken by a loud thud. Kirk whipped around to see Spock, his fist against the wall of the corridor. Uhura peered over the Vulcan’s shoulder, a glint of panic in her eyes. She giggled nervously and waved her hand and then gripped Spock’s forearm, dragging him away.

 _Whoa. That’s not good._ The hallway hummed and the sound of Spock’s fist on the wall replayed in his mind.

Talea cleared her throat, “Well, I suppose I will see you later. Thank you for the meal.” Her smile was killer. Everything about her was petite. Her smile, her antennae, her cheekbones. Jim nodded vigorously, stuttering yeah’s and you bets until she entered the elevator.

Kirk silently chided himself for being such a dork and then sunk back into thought on his first officer, supposedly devoid of emotion, that just rammed his fist into the wall.

But when he entered the bridge, all was well. He seemed his normal self. Cool and calculating as ever when asked questions, his eyes flitting from screen to screen. Kirk looked over at Uhura for a moment but she seemed fine too.

_Maybe he just had…really bad stomach pains or something. Whatever, he seems fine now._

And unfortunately that was the last that Kirk looked into it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this second chapter written as well and I was going to wait a week but decided to share it early.  
> Also just a heads up, I'm taking a lot of liberties with this fanfic. I suppose it's technically an AU in this regard, but I'm ignoring the fact that Uhura and Spock got together. I'm doing TOS Uhura rather than movie Uhura. I'm also going to just sort of...ignore Into Darkness. I didn't particularly love what they did with that movie so I'm going to ignore it. Just a warning to those that were maybe looking for those elements?  
> Anyway, enjoy. c:

He was running late for his Friday spar which was very unprofessional of him, but when an opportunity presents itself, you take it.

Talea was gentle and melted against him as they kissed in the ambassador’s quarters. Originally, Jim had only come to check up on Talea, but then they had tea and then they sat on her bed as she scrolled through different articles on education for the disabled and somehow she ended up on top of him and now here they were, kissing away. It was the most action Kirk had gotten in months. His hands were roaming modestly around her back, dragging a finger along her knobby vertebrae. She hummed against his mouth as his hand sifted through her hair which was much coarser than he would have guessed. This was probably the moment where he should have pulled back, but he didn’t.

He came out of that room after getting a fairly spectacular blow job and quickly headed to spar. Although it might have just been spectacular because he hasn’t had one in a while. She had a lot of saliva…

Jim shook the thought from his head as he entered the dojo, taking his shirt off which he had just put on moments ago. His blood was still racing when he changed into more sensible pants. He normally sparred with Sulu, but he was packing up his gear.

“Hey, I’m sorry I’m late, I got held up…”

Sulu grinned and waved him off, “No it’s fine, and I sparred with Chekov instead. I wish I could stay…” He looked over Jim’s shoulder at the Vulcan who was stretching along with some other cadets that were spread around the room. “Maybe…you could spar with someone else? My shift starts in five minutes so I gotta wash up…”

Jim pressed his lips together hard and nodded, “Yeah, that’s fine. See you in an hour…” He gave Sulu a pat on the shoulder and turned around, heading to do his stretches only to stop and watch Spock stretch.

There was something dizzying about his flexibility; he went above and beyond touching his toes, he placed his palms on the floor in front of him, then reached behind him. His eyes were closed the entire time…well…until they weren’t. He exhaled, still reaching behind his ankles when he opened his eyes to see Kirk staring at him. He didn’t jerk necessarily, but he did stiffen and then straighten up, brushing his hands on his pants.  
Spock squinted a little and rose his eyebrow, “Is there a reason for your staring?”

Jim hadn’t even realized he had been looking for that long. He laughed nervously and stammered, “N-No, no reason!”

“You don’t usually spar at this time.”

“Yeah well…I got caught up…speaking with Ambassador Talea…”

Kirk ran his tongue over his teeth and then decided to sit and begin his stretches while his first officer headed over to the pull up bar. As Kirk leaned forward and grabbed his feet, he watched Spock effortlessly do as many as ten or twenty pull-ups. His momentum never slowed and as far as Kirk could tell, he was only mildly sweating. That was Vulcans for you. Their strength was far superior to humans and so it only made sense that he could do an ungodly amount of pull ups.

He did pull ups the entire time Kirk stretched; he was sure that at some point Spock would drop from the bar but he didn’t. He kept at it which was incredibly impressive and also incredibly annoying.

Jim looked around at the cadets, trying to decide who to spar with when Chekov appeared behind him. “Keptin! You are incredibly late!”

Jim whirled around and chewed his lip, “Yeah and now I’m not sure who to spar with. I usually beat up on Sulu…”

Chekov furrowed his eyebrows and scanned the room, then snorted a bit. His mouth spread into a smile, and Kirk could tell he was suppressing a strong urge to laugh. Jim grew a bit frustrated and started to ask why he was laughing when the young helmsman spoke up, “You could always spar with Spock. I sparred with him once, he’s really tough. He doesn’t go all out, so don’t worry about him killing you, but you should try fighting with him.”

Sulu came back from the showers and tapped Chekov as he left, who smiled and rolled his eyes. “I have to go now…You should try—Here, I’ll ask!” Chekov crossed to where Spock was, Jim narrowly missing his shirt-tail by a hair and he stumbled after him. _No Chekov, no!_

“Spock! Hey—“ The Vulcan paused in his upward pull and dropped from the bar. Chekov stopped a couple feet from him and reeled a bit. He was reasonably scared. Spock was tall, strong, and intimidating.

“Kirk wants to spar with you!” Chekov gave Kirk a big grin and then ran off, “Got to go, I’m late!”

 _I’ll have to kill him later_.

Jim eyed the curly haired weenie as he scrambled out of the room, then turned to Spock who looked him up and down. “Are you warmed up?”

“I didn’t say that—not that I wouldn’t love to obviously—“

“So you don’t want to spar with me.”

“I mean, I guess that would be fine.”

“Captain, do you wish to spar, or not?” He was completely monotone but the sass was apparent in his word choice.

The other people training in the room stopped their wrestling and looked over at the first officer and the captain. Their voices were growing loud, loud enough to distract everyone in the room apparently. Jim’s hands wiggled at his side and he nodded. He said quieter this time, “Yeah—yes. I’m warmed up. Want to head to the other side where they have the staffs?” The crew resumed training as Kirk walked into the next room, his first officer following.

Kirk only used a specific staff, mostly out of favoritism. He always did well with that staff which is why he frowned when Spock pulled it, leaving him with the rest of the crop. Technically they were all identical in weight and length but that staff had a weird pattern near the top of it which is how he recognized it. The lights in the room flickered for a moment which normally means they are changing warps. The bulbs didn’t flicker anywhere else on the enterprise but this room which Scotty has yet to fix. It wasn’t a big deal though so it was low on the totem pole of things to do.

Spock spun the pole around in his fingers and jabbed the air a bit—his movements were powerful. He could tell that one blow from him could kill with that kind of strength. Kirk regretfully reached for one of the random poles on the end and gripped it. It just didn’t feel the same, even though it should.

“Captain, may I ask you a question.” Spock balanced the pole on his palm as he asked.

“Go ahead.”

“I’m wondering why you smell like Andorian perfume?” Spock’s inquisitive gaze was piercing and full of judgment. His first officer probably knew what happened.

Despite the fact that Kirk was a terrible liar, he lied through his teeth to Spock, “Well I was just speaking with Talea so it only makes sense that I smell like her! I was around her!”

“Fair enough.”

_Oh. Wow. Maybe he believes me._

Jim jumped a little in place and then approached the Vulcan, “Ready?”

Spock nodded and their duel commenced.

…

  
 _He won’t kill me my ass, Chekov!_ Kirk hit the ground after Spock swept his pole around the captain’s feet. He sat there and caught his breath, looking up at the Vulcan whose chest raised steadily and fell just so. They have only been sparring for fifteen minutes and Kirk was already exhausted.

“You last longer than most.” Spock remarked as he meandered over to the water fountain and took a sip.

“I don’t know whether that’s a compliment or not…” Jim sat up and stood, his thighs quivering from the effort.

“It was an observation.”

“Ah. Well, I can only do this a couple more times, you put up quite a front Mr. Spock.”

Spock returned and tossed the staff back and forth in his hands before taking his beginning stance. Jim’s heart pounded yet again, but to his dismay, it wasn’t because Talea was kissing him.

The room seemed way too hot and the grunts from the crew seemed far off as Jim came at Spock with his staff. They clashed, the thwack echoing and then they volleyed, hit after hit. Jim just barely missed Spock’s swiping staff at the ankles and he leapt back only to have Spock on him, swinging and coming back at him harder than he has been.

The sheer power behind his last hit had Kirk falling into the wall, his staff rolling across the floor away from him. Spock was there immediately, gently holding his staff at Jim’s throat. _Checkmate._

He opened his mouth to say, ‘good duel’, but Spock spoke first.

“You have blue lipstick on your clavicle.”

…

 

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. Kirk was so incredibly embarrassed. He brought his hand up between him and his first officer and wiped the sticky substance from his chest and then high tailed it out of there. He could have showered in the room next to the locker room but he decided to go back to his own quarters.

_He knew. He knew the entire time. He knew I was lying._

He took a really quick shower, desperately rubbing at the blue stain that smeared across the nape of his neck. _I hope he doesn’t take it personally that I lied to his face. It’s not that I don’t trust him…he’s my first officer. Though if I had to tell someone a secret I probably wouldn’t go to him first. I would go to Bones…yeah…_

That isn’t a very good sign of trust but Kirk ignored that and entered the bridge, his hair still damp from his shower. Spock was already in his seat and examining data supplied from the science department on some soil they collected a few months back.

Chekov swiveled around in his chair and grinned at the captain who returned a half assed smirk. _That smile won’t heal the bruises on my ankles Chekov._

“We will be entering orbit within the hour keptin!”

The screen ahead was a mess of stars and black, the blackness of space. Sometimes the size of space overwhelmed Kirk. He remembered looking at the night sky when he was little, bewildered by the distance between the stars; they all looked so close but in reality they were millions of miles apart despite being a hair’s width from each other. Now they were whizzing past the screen at top speed.

“Do you have an exact time?” Kirk eased into his chair and sighed, his body aching from sparring with his first officer just half an hour ago.

Spock answered before Chekov, “28 minutes captain, I suggest you inform the ambassadors.”

Kirk nodded and buzzed the intercom, “Arrival at Andoria in 28 minutes. Please make appropriate preparations. Ambassadors, please be in the transporter room in twenty minutes. Crew members will arrive at your room shortly to gather your luggage. Kirk out.”

There was silence until they slowed to warp 1, the icy planet growing in their line of sight. They would be falling into orbit in around 4 minutes so the Captain stood and prepared to go meet them.

_I would take Spock…Normally I would but Andorians don’t like Vulcans…_

“Lieutenant Uhura, would you accompany me to the transporter room to bid our guests adieu?” Kirk waltzed up to her chair and folded his arms behind his back. Uhura gave him an odd glance, but realized why she was chosen. She flashed a smile and handed the earpiece to her assistant, “Of course.”

The pair went into the turbolift, Kirk saying, “Mr. Spock you have the con,” before the door shut. As soon as the door shut, Uhura remarked, “You smell really funny.”

“You’ve got to be kidding! I took a shower—the perfume smell should be gone…”

Uhura snickered and shook her head, “Next time you canoodle with an ambassador, make sure they aren’t wearing pungent smelling perfume. Really gives you away.” Kirk sighed and punched her arm, “Uhm, are you my first officer? Why are you riding on my ass?” He gave a grin but hers completely vanished.

Her demeanor switched from teasing to somber very quickly and before he could ask what he had done wrong, the door had opened and she was leaving him behind.

“Uhura, hey, stop, did I say something?”

But she turned with a smile, “Forget it.” She tapped her leg and kept walking. “Come on, let’s go say good bye to Talea and Sharak.”

…

 

The two came back to the bridge after the ambassadors dematerialized and returned safely to the surface of Andoria. They were silent in the turbolift and didn’t speak to each other much more for the rest of the shift. They left Andoria, although Talea’s scent didn’t leave with her. Her perfume permeated through the halls after the custodial crew opened the doors to clean much to Spock’s dismay. His room was at the end of the corridor on deck 5 and the entire floor had time to marinate in Talea’s perfume.

At the end of the shift, Kirk turned the con over and went to the turbolift. Spock and Kirk usually get off at the same time on Fridays but Spock always waited a few minutes before coming down, but not this Friday. Spock met the captain at the door and the entered the lift together.

The ride was dreadfully quiet. This was one of those times Kirk yearned for that relationship Spock Prime spoke of. He saw those moments that Spock and other James Kirk shared briefly through the transmission of Spock Prime’s memories and he wanted it so bad. He wanted to be able to joke and smile and wrap his arm around the first officer’s shoulders even though it would piss him off but it would be okay for him to do it because they would be friends. But that dream was far off. Right now it felt as if there was an entire galaxy between them.

“Deck 5.”

The door opened with a whoosh and the smell was stronger than he had realized. He remembered going into her room and it smelling strong this afternoon but hell it was impossible to escape. Kirk hesitantly glanced over at the Vulcan whose eyebrow slowly rose.

_Shit, I should really apologize for this afternoon._

Instead what came out was, “Hahaha, speaking of that smell, you know, we should spar more often.” Spock was striding ahead of him now but stopped at the suggestion. He pivoted around and stared at the captain.

“Is this an example of sarcasm that you usually use with Dr. McCoy?”

Jim smirked, “No Spock, I’m being serious. We should spar more often. I need more of a challenge. Sulu is awesome to work with but you are incredibly…strong and skilled which is what I want.”

The vacuum cleaners inside of the ambassadors’ quarters roared to life and Spock pondered this offer. It would be rude to refuse his captain so he nodded, then said tersely, “We shall spar next Friday.” A genuine smile spread across the captain’s lips and he gave a mock salute, “next Friday.”

Spock simply stared back, said ‘goodnight’, and then retreated to his room.

_Sparring together…that’s definitely a start._


End file.
